The Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) will file a defamation suit against members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) who alleged that ICT’s administration has committed a fraud of over ₹4 crore, ICT Vice Chancellor G.D. Yadav said. The ABVP had also alleged that Mr. Yadav is responsible for malpractices at the institution.
Mr. Yadav said the decision to file the defamation suit was arrived at in a meeting of faculty members, deans and students on Monday. While legal notices will be sent this week by the institute’s lawyers, its action committee will initiate disciplinary action soon.
At a press interaction held by the ABVP on May 18, Sarjerao Doltade, PhD student at ICT and joint city secretary of ABVP, had said that in 2017-18, ICT did not abide by the fee structure guidelines set by the Directorate of Technical Education.
‘Pained by claims’
“Several students of the institute were pained by the false allegations levelled by a few students who have vested interests and who are politically motivated. The faculty members and I were a part of the meeting. While there is no truth in the claims that they have made, we will not be taking it lying down. Action will be taken against six students for maligning the institute and a faculty member who was aware of the move the students were going to make, but did nothing to stop them,” Mr. Yadav said.
In the press interaction, Mr. Doltade had alleged that students were charged an excess fee of over ₹35,000 and that the administration acknowledged the hike was unreasonable only after the students protested. He further said the amount has still not been refunded.
The ICT had clarified that the Central government determines the fee structure applicable to all its courses and the fee hike was gradually implemented over the past few years. It also claimed to have reduced the fees since the last academic year considering the fee hike burdened the students.
At the same interaction, ABVP secretary Amey Mahadik had alleged that only two of the 12 courses at ICT are registered under the State’s Maha-Direct Benefit Transfer, depriving students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
